Why get an Apple TV?

[chas_m]

I admit to being one of those people who was scratching their heads at the intro, not quite sure what to make of it. I totally get the idea behind AppleTV now.

The AppleTV plays on the same three principle concepts that drive the iPod:
1. Freedom
2. Portability
3. Seamless computer-to-device experience

I have a large and growing DVD library. For space reasons, as well as for the reasons deckeda mentioned, I would love to get the DVDs out. Large hard drives are inexpensive and building a video library on one will be fun (if a little time-consuming -- of course the iTunes Store can help you with that for a price!). So the streaming aspect of the AppleTV -- particularly the ability to stream from any computer in the house to it -- is pleasing.

Secondly, I recently hooked my MacBook directly to my HDTV and did an iPhoto slideshow. WOW DID THAT EVER LOOK GOOD. Steaming PHOTOS and MUSIC will be another big selling point -- after all, for most HDTV owners the best stereo in the house is the one attached to the TV!

Third, the AppleTV has 40GB of storage. At first I thought like everyone else and snorted. Then I realised that this equals about 40-80 hours of entertainment. Suddenly it hits me: load up the AppleTV with selected content, disconnect it, take to neighbour's house, plug it in.

Imagine: the kids have the WHOLE DISNEY LIBRARY to watch while you and the parents kick back with the BBQ and brews. That should keep them busy for a while ...

Finally, the idea that individuals can MANAGE their video, audio and photo libraries with EASY software on their computer could relly change the playing field, for example little to NO network/cable TV watching in a house that's really invested in AppleTV/iTMS. Some of you guys are paying $100/month for your cable -- imagine if you got your favourite TV shows from iTunes and ditched the cable. At $2/show with no commercials, I would wager that MOST people would save money.

Let's review:

1. FREEDOM to watch what you want when you want from a variety of sources.
2. PORTABILITY to take your video/photo/music library with you to share with others (assuming they have a HDTV that is!).
3. The iTunes-Computer-AppleTV-HDTV-stereo EXPERIENCE creating a manageable environment to take charge of your entertainment, not to mention an easy way to buy additional entertainment. Apple both encourages you to make your OWN television AND buy existing programs reasonably.

Sure, this AppleTV is 1.0 and there are some things I look forward to in Version 2 (I'd be in heaven if Apple would license DIVX/XVID support, for example!). But this is a relatively safe buy -- when version 2 comes out, just sell version 1 at a discount to someone who doesn't have one (that would be "most people") and move on.

Like the iPod, it will take a couplethree years to really catch on, so some of you can wait for this train to pull up to your station. But if you weren't at least a LITTLE bleeding-edge, you wouldn't be on this forum and thus reading this, would you?

[GeneL]

Hi! chas_m.

I appreciated your description of how you'd use AppleTV…

…while I get your reasoning, isn't the Slingbox is a better solution?

If I'm not mistaken, Slingbox allows one to access any and all content that you have available at home. This can be from your cable/sattelite system which you can control remotely or from the content on your computer. I know it allows you to watch the "show" on another computer, on a video cellphone and with the appropriate connection I would think that you could feed the video content to a TV as well.

As I always say, "that's just my opinion, I could be wrong."

GeneL

[mikebw]

GeneL, the Slingbox does pretty much the opposite of what the AppleTV does. As you say, it will allow you to watch stuff from your TV on your computer. People who want an AppleTV want no such thing. They want to watch stuff from their computer on their HDTV. Totally different.

[GeneL]

Mikebw, what you are saying is that you can watch stuff from your computer on your TV like photo slide shows and iMovies, but what about the rest? Don't you have to have a DVD to rip a movie from in order to show it from your computer to your TV? And can't you simply run an s-video or even a HDMI cable from some of the latest computers to many of the new TVs? Just where will you get additional quality content, if not from cable or satellite? Surely, there is no high quality HD content readily accessible online at this time?

I worked for many years in the home electronics field and to me, at this time, Slingbox is more interesting, for its featured abilities and advantages, than AppleTV. Perhaps, one day when enough quality content is being streamed online the AppleTV concept will make more sense.

Of course, with Apple's success in marketing the iPod, they'll probably get a lot of folks to buy into their idea.


As I always say, "that's just my opinion, I could be wrong."

GeneL

[mikebw]

You are correct. As a computer user you would be responsible for providing the content to the Apple TV, either from your own DVD's or home movies, or downloaded from the Internet.

You can connect most any recent computer to a TV, but very few will be as easy to operate from the couch as the Apple TV. I'm not saying they aren't other ways of doing it, but the Apple TV was designed for this one purpose.

Slingbox is a cool idea, I agree. It just does something that the Apple TV does not, and vice versa.

I am hoping for an increase in HD content from the Apple Store. TV shows, movies etc. Increasingly, people will have the bandwidth needed to get this stuff in a reasonable amount of time vs. going out and buying it. Also, we all know how storage gets cheaper too. Without content the device won't succeed so we sort of have to wait for that.

[Kramerica]

There are some HD video podcasts now as well. And Apple TV seems nice for all of the other video podcasts too. It will have the latest one automatically cued up for you when you sit down on your couch.

Also, someone announced a YouTube plugin yesterday, so you can entertain yourself endlessly with all of the junk on there enlarged to giant pixelated proportions, but at least on your tv.

[Kramerica]

The Slingbox is a cool but completely different product with a different purpose.

The Slingbox is now compatible with Apple TV as well. You can control your Apple TV from a computer anywhere.

[Robert M]

Chasm,

Some thoughts...

> 1. FREEDOM to watch what you want when you want from a
> variety of sources.

That’s a simplistic assessment at best. It’s the freedom to access content from the computer or the device itself. You still have to manage it all, i.e. download, rip, etc. That and it’s very different than having access to content from a variety of sources. You’ll still need other hardware, i.e. CD/DVD player to access items that aren’t already on the machine or the device. That’s _very_ inconvenient.


> 2. PORTABILITY to take your video/photo/music library
> with you to share with others (assuming they have a
> HDTV that is!).

The example you offered doesn’t equate portable to me. I’d much rather take a few DVDs to a friend’s house than a device that’s worth hundreds of dollars.

> 3. The iTunes-Computer-AppleTV-HDTV-stereo EXPERIENCE
> creating a manageable environment to take charge of
> your entertainment, not to mention an easy way to buy
> additional entertainment. Apple both encourages you to
> make your OWN television AND buy existing programs
> reasonably.

Again, simplistic. You have access to what you put onto your machine and/or buy from Apple. Who wants to buy from Apple what I can get for free from network TV and/or a reasonable price from a cable provider. Yes. Cable doesn’t cost me $100/month. My combined cable and Internet service bill is barely that much $$$. If I factor in the costs of purchasing content from Apple, it’s going to definitely outweigh my cable expenses. That and I lose access to the vast variety of content provided by cable, some of which doesn’t interest me but a great deal of which may prove very cool.

Robert